Improvement in button-hole sewing-machines



I 3 'Sheets-Shet 1. J. McCLOSKEY. J

, Button' Hole Sewing Machine.

No. 55,688 Patented June 19, I866.

v v 'Jmt v Invadb Patented June 19, 1866.

- J. MCCLOSKEYQ 3' S eds- Sheet 3.

I But ton Hofe Sewing Machine- No. 55, 38. Patented June 19; 1866.

Inveni'or.

A N. PETERS. PMWLRW, Wismgimm u. c

U ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MGOLOSKEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN BUTTON-HOLE SEWING-MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN MCCLOSKEY, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Button-HoleSewing-Machines and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilledin the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaecompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a side elevation of a sewing-macl1ine to which myimprovement has been applied. Fig. 2 is a top view thereof, a portion ofthe cloth-table being broken away; to show the horizontal looping-needle0. Fig.1 3, Sheet 2, is an under-side view of the cloth-.5 table,showing the needle-looper and its shank. T Fig. 4 is an edge view of theparts shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows the prcsser-foot in two; detailedviews. Fig. 6 shows a plan and a sectional edge view of the button-holeguide. Fig. 7 shows the upper needle in two views.

Fi 8 shows in two views a detailed re )re- 71 7 7 sentation of thespring-finger which rotates the cylinder E. Fig. 9 shows the details ofthe barrel H and its supporting parts in siX views. Fig. 10, Sheet 3,shows a plan and an edge view of a rotating hook. Fig. 11 represents twodifferent stitches which can be made by means of my invention. Fig. 12,Sheet 6, is a side elevation of the sewing-machine.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

The object of this invention is to produce a button-hole sewing-machine.It is here shown applied to a Wheeler 85 Wilson sewing-ma chine, thehook patented by J. McOloskey J line-20, 1865, and represented in Fig.10, being put in the usual place of the bobbin of the' machine when acertain kind of stitch is to be made, as hereinafter explained.

The reciprocating needle is alternately ad vanced and drawn back so asto make its descents alternately in one of two parallel lines, oneforward of the other. In one line it penetrates the cloth in which thebutton-hole is out, and in the other it descends into the buttonhole.This movement of the needle is made by means of an eccentric operated byan attachment on the needle-arm whose movements upward are made to turna cylinder, whose lower end carries the eccentric that alternately advances and withdraws the needle. The lower thread is carried by a curvedlooper which moves in a horizontal plane and is operated by the same camwhich operates the feeding devices. This looper may be dispensed withwhen a button-hole is to be sewed with the upper needle-thread only.

The stuff or cloth in which the button-hole is made is turned andadvanced as the sewing proceeds by means of a movable guide consistingof a frame that resembles the buttonhole in form. This guide has shorthooks or projections on its bottom edge, which attach it to a movablebed of flexible material that lies on the cloth-table and is acted on bythe feeding-dog. The cloth to be sewed is confined between the guide andthe movable bed by the same projections which connect them to eachother. The needle descends through a perforation made in thepresser-foot, and such perforation has a circular flange, which projectsdownward and is inclosed within the guide, the presser-foot itselfresting on the guide and holding it and its bed upon the cloth-tableover the slots through which the feeding-points work.

In this example my invention. is shown applied to a Wheeler & Wilsonsewing-machine, whose cloth-table is seen at A. To the needlearm B, Iattach a block, L, from which extends a spindle, K, 011 which revolves acylinder, H, that is held on the spindle by a nut. The cylinderhas on ittwo straight grooves, U U, which extend from top to bottom on oppositesides of its circumference. The grooves U are connected by spiralgrooves J J, which are severally cut through the divided circumferenceof the cylinder. On the lower end of the cylinder I form an eccentric,(I, (seen in Fig. 9,) on which is fitted loosely the upper end of shankJ of the reciprocating needle 0 in such a manner as that the shank andneedle will be pushed forward and back during a complete revolution ofcylinder H, such complete revolution being made during the time that theneedle-barmakes two full reciprocations-that is to say, descends twicethrough the cloth-table and rises twice. The needle-shank J is held upagainst the end of the needle-bar by a set-screw, N, which goes throughan oblou g slot, M, that allows the shank to be moved to and fro thereonby the eccentric.

The cylinder H is rotated by means of a finger, Gr, working in thegrooves aforesaid, the finger being projected from an elastic stockwhich consists, in this example, of a stifi' arm, E, that is pivoted tothe under side of the PTBSSGPRTIII G by ascrew-pin, F, and of asemi-elliptical spring, D, one end of which is connected to the arm E,atright angles therewith, so that its free end may bear against the sideof the press cr-arm toward. the rear.

The spiral grooves 1 traverse, respectively, opposite sides of thecylinder, each extending froma point below theupper end of one of thestraight grooves Uto a point above the lower end of the other straightgroove. The straight grooves in their lower parts are of the same depth;but they gradually become shallower as they ascend from the lower to theupper mouths of the spiral grooves, which are sunken deeper than theparts of the straight grooves which are next below them, thereby makinga sudden fall in the upper part of said straight grooves opposite theplace where the spiralgroove begins. It follows from this mode ofconstructing and arranging the grooves that when the cylinder is movingdownward with the linger Gr in one of the straight grooves U theinclination in the bottom of such groove will gradually cause the fingerto be forced back until itreaches the rise I, where the groove isagain deepened, when the finger will be forced by the spring 1) intosuch deeper part of the groove, the iise 1 serving to prevent its returninto, that part of groove U which it has just left and to direct it intothe adjacent spiral groove when the needle-bar makes its next ascent.The next ascent of the needle-bar carries the cylinder upward past oragainst the finger G, which, being directed as aforesaid, by the rise 1,into the adjacent groove I, turns the cylinder half a revolution, oruntil the spiral groove reaches the lower part of the other straightgroove 1, into which it passes by going over alike rise made at thclowermouth of the spiral grooves, whose bottoms are raised grad ually as theydescend until they meet the lower parts of the straight grooves. Fromthis construction it follows that the cylinder makes half a revolutionin the ascent and descent of the needle-bar and completes its revolutionin the next ascent and descent of said bar. The eccentric d on the lowerpart of the cylinder is arranged so that its greater and lesser radiicoincide with a diametrical line which goes through both straightgrooves U,thereby brin gin g the greater and also the less radiusdirectly under the parts of the cylinder traversed by the spiralgrooves.

When the cylinder is turned so as to bring the greater throw of theeccentric toward the needle, the shank J thereof, and consequently theneedle, is projected forward so as to enter the slots in thepresser-foot and in the table of the machine in an advance position.When, on the contrary, the cylinder is turned so as to bring the smallerthrow of the eccentric toward the needle the shank and needle will havebeen drawn back, so that the needle will enter the said slots in a lessadvanced line.

The straight grooves U are extended to the top and bottom of cylinder H,beyond the months of the spiral grooves, so that finger G is received bythe grooves U after the spiral grooves I have passed it. Consequentlythe cylinder H ceases torotate so soon as the tinger reaches thestraight grooves, during both the rise and fall of the needle-bar andbefore the needle-bar has completed either movement, so that when theneedle reaches the cloth the action of the eccentric, whether to push itforward or to draw it back, has been completed,

and the needles path remains unchanged until after it has been raisedabove the cloth, because it is only during the middle part of themovements of the needle-bar, when it is out of the cloth, that it ismoved by the eccentric. When the needle is projected forward by theeccentric it goes through the edge of the button-hole, and at its nextdescent it goes through the button hole and engages only with the loopor loops there presented to it without entering the cloth.

The finger G yields when the inclines of the straight and spiral groovesare passing it, being connected with the spring D, which presses itforward constantly against the bottom s of t he grooves with forcesniiicient to cause the cylinder H to rotate, as described.

The prcsser-foot P is connected to the post 0 of the presser-bar by apin, 'i, that goes through said post, and in such a way as to have ayielding pressure. Thepresser-foot has an oblong slot through which theneedle passes, and a hollow flange or ring, j, Fig. extends downwardfrom the edge of said slot and is confined within the top of the hollowbuttonhole guide Q, on which the presser-foot rests. This guide may beof metal or other stii't' material, and its shape conforms to thegeneral form of the button-hole to be made. Its height dependsprincipally on the depth of the flange j and partly on the length of theneedle. Its lower edge has several sharp points, which take hold of amovable bed, S, made of any suitable material which has a soft surface,so that the feeding-points of the machine can engage it on one side andthe points from the guide penetrate it on the other. The cloth It, inwhich the button-hole is to be made, is held between the movable bed Sand the guide Q, being penetrated by the points of the guide. From thisconstruction it follows that the guide and cloth will be moved alongwith the bed S in whatever direction the latter is impelled by thefeedpoints.

The hollow flangej of the presser-foot is a little less than thesmallerdiameter of the guide Q, and the insideof the guide and theoutside of the flange being continuous curved lines, it follows thatwhen the feed takes place the guide will be moved continually againstthe flange and will revolve around it, thereby presentin g the cloth tothe needle in a path whose curve is the curve of the guide.

\Vhen a button-hole is to be sewed the cloth is so arranged beneath theguide that the edge of the latter will rest on the cloth outside of thebutton-hole, the guide being made wide enough to leave a margin eachside of the cut for the needle to enter, and the center of the movablebed S being so cut away as never to be in the path of the needle.

The letter O designates acurved needle which works beneath and parallelwith the cloth-table A. It is so placed and operated as to enter theloop of the upper thread when it is distended upon the revolving-hook,just before that loop is thrown ofl'. At that time the curved needleenters said loop and carries into it its own thread, which is distendedacross its inner side, so that the upper needle at its next descent goesbetween the curved needle and the lower thread, and the revolving hookj, coming round at this time and seizing the upper thread, draws itthrough the loop of the lower thread and makes a double chain on theunder side of the cloth. The lower needle 0, is vibrated across the pathof the upper needle by means of that part of a Wheeler & Wilsonsewing-machine on which the feeding-cam is formed. The needle 0 isrigidly secured to a slotted stock, I), that is pivoted at l to theunder side of the cloth-table. The slot in its stock b receives a pin onthe end of a vibrating lever, W, which is pivoted to a bracket, Y, thathangs down from the cloth-table in front of the pulley and cam shaft on.The short end a of the lever is drawn by a spring, X, against the outeredge of the rim of the feeding-cam Z, which operates thelever at theproper time to vibrate the lower needle. The rim of the feeding-cam Z ismade of the required shape to produce the proper motion of the lever.

\Vhen the lower needle, 0, is used, inconnection with needle 0, forsewing a buttonhole, a stitch is produced like that represented at g hin Fig. 11, on the right-hand side of the figure, the needle 0 beingreciprocated so as to go through the cloth at-the edge of thebutton-hole, and then through the hole alternately at each descent,forming, in connection with the revolving hook and with the lowerneedle, a chain-stitch of the character here shown, the thread of theupper needle being designated by the letter g, and of the lower needleby the letter h.

The buttonhole may be sewed with a single thread-that is to say, withonly the thread of the upper needle-by means of the hook f, (shown indetailed view in Fig. 10, and also shown in Fi 12, where it is seen inits proper place in the machine.)

This book, which is the subject of a patent granted to me June 20, 1865,is for this pur pose connected with a ring, 6, of about the size of thebobbin of a \Vheeler & \Vilson sewing-machine, whose place therein itoccupies when work is to be done with the upper thread only, the hook fbeing put loosely in the machine, its end pointing in a directioncontrary to that of the ordinary hook j of that machine, behind which itgoes, and being bent back from the plane of the ring 6, to which it isattached, so that while its ring a is before the ordinary hook j" thehook f will come behind said hook j, its end, which is quite blunt,being kept toward the left by frictional contact between its ring 0 andthe covering-ring of the machine. As the loop of the upper thread iscast ofi' from the revolving hook j this hook j" receives it and spreadsopen the loop, and holds it open until the needle descends through thatloop again, when the further revolution of the hooks releases that loopto repeat the same operation with the next, thereby formin g thechain-stitch with the upper thread alone. It is clear that if thesupplementary hook f is used with an upper needle, which descendsthrough the edge of a button-hole and through the hole in alternation,the chain of the stitch will be formed along the rim of the button-hole.When the supplementary book 1" is used to sew with the upper thread onlythe lower needle, G, is removed.

Tension is put on the thread of the lower needle by means of a rod, q,placed beneath the cloth-table, one end of said rod being fixed and theother being allowed to press against a block which has a groove, 8, inthe direction of the rod, to receive it and keep it from accidentaldisplacement. The thrcad runs across the block transversely to andbeneath the rod, in a groove. 1', which is cut in the block at rightangles to and of the same depth as groove .9. he rod is made elastic,and is ar ranged so as to press against the thread with force enough tohold it, except when the said lower needle draws the thread out.

By means of this invention work can be embroidered and ornamented, bothwith two threads and with one only, the stitch produced forming a doubleline of sewing by reason of the alternating forward movement of theneedle 0.

By changing the form of the guide Q any form of slit or out can beworked, as, for in stance, an eyelet-hole.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent-- 1. The groovedcylinder H, constructed sub stantially as described, for moving theneedle forward and backward alternately, attached to or moved with theneedle-arm of a reciproeating-needle.

2. The grooved cylinder H, in combination with the yielding finger G,substantially as described.

3. The eccentric on the lower end of the grooved cylinder foralternately moving the needle forward and backward, substantially asdescribed.

at. Connecting the reciprocating needle 0 with the grooved cylinder bymeans of an arm, J, applied substantially as above described.

5. The hollow flange j on the under side of the presser-lbot, incombination with the guide Q, substantially as described.

6. The combination of the movable bed S with the loose guide Q,operating in conjunction, substantially as described.

7. The combination of the supplementary hook f with the needle 0 and thedevices which move it forward and backward, substantially as abovedescribed.

8. The horizontal lower needle, 0, made and operated substantially asdescribed, in combination with the revolving hook j and a reciprocatingneedleO, moved forward and backward alternately, substantially asdescribed.

JOHN MGOLOSKEY.

YVitnesses J. VAN SANTVOORD, GUsTAVE DEITERIOH.

